Dorzolamide and corneal recovery from edema in patients with glaucoma or ocular hypertension

PURPOSE: To investigate whether dorzolamide alters corneal hydration contro l in patients with glaucoma or ocular hypertension. METHODS: Pachymetry, tonometry, and endothelial cell density were measured by a masked observer in 19 subjects with bilateral glaucoma or ocular hyper tension. They were treated with 2% dorzolamide in one eye, and with saline in the other, before wearing contact lenses under patched eyes. Corneal thi ckness, measured each 30 minutes up to 4.5 hours after contact lens removal , enabled estimation of percentage recovery per hour and time for 95% of co rneal thickness recovery for both eyes. Seven patients repeated this test a fter 1 year of dorzolamide use, and their results were compared with those of the preceding year. RESULTS: After induction of hypoxic corneal edema, there was no significant difference between paired corneas in swelling levels (60.0 +/- 11.8 and 59 .8 +/- 12.9 mu m) (P = .94), time to 95% recovery (440.6 +/- 255.8 and 445. 4 +/- 186.7 minutes) (P = .93), and percentage recovery per hour (38.1% +/- 10.9% and 36.1% +/- 9.6%) (P = .40). Subjects followed up after 1 year of dorzolamide use did not differ significantly in values of endothelial cell density, percentage recovery per hour, or time to 95% recovery from those o btained a year before. One subject developed persistent corneal edema after his stress test in the eye treated with dorzolamide. CONCLUSION: There is no significant difference in the recovery from induced corneal edema after either a short-term or 1-year use of dorzolamide in pa tients with glaucoma or ocular hypertension with a normal corneal endotheli um. One patient had persistent corneal edema after the stress test was perf ormed on the dorzolamide-treated eye. (Am J Ophthalmol 2000;129:144-150, (C ) 2000 by Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.)